


A petal amongst dragonflies

by Katical



Series: Invisible [2]
Category: Gintama
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Implied one sided Hijikata/Gintoki, Light Angst, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 17:49:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16602701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katical/pseuds/Katical
Summary: Even someone like Hijikata can peacefully enjoy an ordinary day with the woman he loves in Edo.Part 2 of Invisible. A series composed of independent one-shots of multiple ships from different fandoms. You do not need to have read the others to understand.





	A petal amongst dragonflies

**Author's Note:**

> Hi hi~ Welcome to another part of the series: Invisible. As mentioned above, you do not need to have read the other fics in the series to understand what is going on. I’m still quite new to writing HijiMitsu so in all honesty, I’m nervous about this fic. I’ve enjoyed writing it but I’m not sure whether I’ve portrayed them well and all that. Gintoki makes an appearance and I have absolutely no experience writing him whatsoever, so if anything is a bit out of place, please forgive!!

 

 

The sound of leaves gently rustling was heard through the haziness of sleep before the breeze was felt lightly grazing his cheek. He wanted to blink his eyes open but when he registered how heavy they felt, he gave up. Soft footsteps approached him and although that would normally put him on full alert, he knew who it was. The sound of her gentle steps was one indication but it was also the next action that followed. A light blanket was placed over him and despite the ache he felt in his shoulders, he happily welcomed the new addition of fabric. He heard some movement to his side before feeling careful fingers ghosted over his forehead, brushing his dark bangs a little bit aside.

Finally, Hijikata decided to crack open an eye.

Metal blue instantly met brown eyes, and following that, he was blessed with a gentle smile.

“Did I wake you, Toushirou-san?”

He hummed a reply, leaning into Mitsuba’s touch.

She laughed quietly behind her other hand. “You’ll catch a cold if you sleep on the table.”

That statement made the vice-commander realise why exactly his shoulders ached, but also the fact that he had some unfinished paperwork to do.

With a groan, he pushed himself up from the table. Mitsuba swiftly caught the blanket over his shoulders as he went to pull his arms up over his head, giving his muscles a satisfying stretch.

“Thank you for that,” he offered a small smile while nodding to the material in her hands.

She responded with a light shake of her head, pulling the fabric close to her chest as she offered yet another soft smile. “Would you like something to drink? Some tea, perhaps?”

“That would be nice,” Hijikata nodded.

When it looked like she was making her way stand, Hijikata turned back to the work in front of him only to have a hand catch his cheek, directing his attention back to Mitsuba again. The first word of his question didn’t even leave his mouth when she leant in and quickly pecked his lips. It was short and sweet but it left Hijikata no less speechless. With a somewhat cheeky smile, she pulled back and skipped out of the room.

It took him a while to recover before he could continue his work.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Sat on the veranda, Hijikata sipped his cup of tea while watching Mitsuba out in the courtyard. With the early afternoon sun shining overhead, it provided a spotlight for her underneath the blooming sakura tree. The pink petals fluttered down with the gentle breeze and some settled on top of her hair and shoulders. She either didn’t notice, or she chose not to mind as she continued to offer a finger out to the dragonflies around her. Hijikata always found it strange how those insects were so attracted to her, but he never complained because they would always bring out a smile on her face that made his heart skip several beats.

The scene in front of him caused his lips to curl fondly upwards. He tried to hide it behind his cup but he knew he wasn’t fooling anyone. The warmth he felt in his chest was not from the sun or the tea he was drinking. And he was reminded once again that even after so long, there was no denying his feelings.

Approaching footsteps made him lower his cup of tea.

“Oh, Toshi!”

There wasn’t even much need to see to know who it was.

“I didn’t know you were out here!”

“Good afternoon, Kondo-san,” Hijikata greeted, tipping his head to the side to regard his commander.

Kondo was walking towards him with a wave and his regular goofy smile on his face. When he stepped closer, Hijikata noticed how the other’s eyes looked at him before falling to the tray on the wooden veranda beside him. The tray held a small tea pot and another cup of tea which remained untouched. By the time Kondo’s gaze returned to Hijikata, they lost their previous enthusiastic glow and was replaced with a tinge of sadness.

“Is Mitsuba-dono here?”

“She is,” Hijikata replied, nodding in the direction of the sakura tree, ignoring the unspoken words which he had become reluctantly familiar with.

Kondo gazed out and as if Mitsuba felt the additional pair of eyes in her direction, she turned around.

A bright smile bloomed across her face as she raised an arm over her head to wave.

“Good afternoon, Kondo-san!” She called from a few metres away.

But it didn’t seem like Kondo heard her.

“She’s waving at you,” Hijikata said, eyes never leaving Mitsuba.

“Oh, she is?” Kondo asked, giving the vice-commander a quick glance before returning a wave. “Hello, Mitsuba-dono! I hope you’re well today!”

Hijikata couldn’t help but notice that the direction of his wave was not exactly towards her, but slightly to her side.

After informing the vice-commander of a few reports, Kondo trotted away, leaving everything to fall back to the way they were moments ago.

Before too long after that, Mitsuba returned to his side. As she approached, Hijikata noticed that she had a pink petal caught in her hair so he set aside his cup of tea and stood up.

“You’ve got a petal in your hair,” he informed, offering a hand towards her head.

“Oh, could you-?” She began to ask, but by that time, Hijikata had already pinched it out. “Thank you,” she smiled, raising her arms up to loop around his broad shoulders.

This time, Hijikata was prepared.

And their lips met halfway.

 

 

* * *

 

 

With a quick count of the items in the plastic bag which hung from his arm, Hijikata began to make his way through town and back towards the barracks when he heard a familiar voice.

“Thanks again, Gin-san!”

“No problem, old man.”

And then appeared the silver haired man himself, stepping out of a small local bakery.

Their eyes met almost instantly.

“Yo, if it isn’t Hijikata-kun,” Gintoki greeted with a lazy wave. He sat himself down on the bench just outside the shop before patting the space beside him while offering a paper bag of what looked to be cookies with his other hand.

The ravenhead raised an eyebrow but said nothing, moving to oblige the other.

“What are you doing? Skipping work to buy some snacks?”

“Shut up.” Gintoki huffed, pulling out a freshly baked cookie before passing the paper bag to the vice commander. “These are a generous tip from my clients.”

“Shouldn’t you save them for your brats then?” Hijikata asked, not making any move to take an offered cookie.

“There’s plenty in here.” Gintoki insisted, pushing the bag into the other’s hold before giving Hijikata a sideways glance. “It looks like you need some sugar in you anyway.”

The ravenhead huffed a laugh before taking out a cookie. They ate in comfortable silence before Gintoki went for seconds and asked,

“Hey?”

“Hmm?”

“Have you quit smoking or something?”

Hijikata turned to his companion with a raised eyebrow, but it didn’t seem like Gintoki was going to face him, keeping his gaze directed skyward.

“I have,” Hijikata answered, despite feeling the sudden desire to sprint away and buy a packet of cigarettes after being reminded of how much he still craved a good smoke.

“I never thought you’d be able to break that habit. It’s like asking you to quit eating mayonnaise.”

“Mayonnaise makes food taste better,” the ravenhead reasoned. “Smoking is… a little different.”

This time, it was Gintoki who looked at Hijikata. And it was Hijikata who ignored the other’s gaze.

“I started smoking after moving to Edo. It was nothing more than a means of coping with being away from her.” The vice-commander could feel the intensity of Gintoki’s gaze but he continued anyway. “But now that we’re… y’know, together, I don’t really need it anymore.”

There was a pause.

At this moment, Hijikata wished he had something like a cigarette to give him something to do. Somehow, simply nibbling on a cookie wasn’t enough to distract him from the piercing stare of the silver haired man beside him.

“Is she… Is she around?” Gintoki asked.

Hijikata chanced a glance at the other before replying, “Not here. She’s at the barracks.”

“I see.”

Another pause.

“Will you ever be able to move on at this rate?”

Somehow, Hijikata expected this question. It’s very similar to what Kondo always seemed to want to say.

“At the moment,” Hijikata began, leaning back on his hands as he tilted his heads towards the clear sky. “I don’t need to.”

“But she’s-”

“I know.” Hijikata interrupted.

Gintoki didn’t argue further.

“I know.” He reassured. “But I can’t move on yet. Not when she’s here, and it feels like… she isn’t actually gone.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed it. I’m sorry that the whole thing is bittersweet but as it is in canon, HijiMitsu is one massive stab in the heart ;_;


End file.
